HYDERABAD: It was high drama on Wednesday night at the Precious Moments adoption centre run by IPS officer Swaranjit Sen's wife Anita Sen at Miyapur on the city outskirts.

When officials of the Central Adoption Resources Agency (CARA), the Women and Child Welfare Department and Ranga Reddy district administration went there to shift the inmates, Anita Sen resisted the attempts and got into a heated argument with the officials.

While the officials contended that Anita Sen did not have proper registration to run the centre, she argued that she had. When asked to show the documents, she said she either had them at home or were under lock and key.

In a high-pitched voice, Anita Sen demanded to know why the children had to be shifted. The officials told her there was prima facie case against her adoption centre which they said was being run illegally.

From the argument, it could be gathered that Anita Sen was `procuring' the children from Medak, Ranga Reddy (Tandur) and from the twin cities and giving them to foreigners for adoption.

But she routed her adoptions through Roda Mistry's Indian Council of Social Welfare (ICSW), which was registered with CARA.

There are 52 children in the home. Except six, all are below six months.

According to sources, Precious Moments was part of the Tabernacle School of Evangelism, a Bible school being run on the premises. This school was facilitating foreign adoptions but was getting them routed through ICSW.

"We will probe Roda Mistry also and take action if necessary," Dr Jaganath Patti, deputy director of CARA told Anita Sen. Patti was accompanied by S Saraswathi, assistant director, CARA and another official.

Ranga Reddy district collector Ajay Jain was in constant touch with the director of the women and child welfare department Shalini Mishra who advised him that the children from the home be immediately shifted. However, since it was 9.30 pm and the children had slept, Mishra agreed that they be shifted in the morning.

More than 10 officials of the RR collectorate, CARA and Women and Child Welfare Department left only after sealing the premises of Precious Moments and seizing some documents.

While newsmen waited to talk to Anita Sen, she left by the backdoor without meeting anyone.

When contacted, Roda Mistry of the ICSW said routing of children for foreign adoption through ICSW was `absolutely legal'. "Any registered organisation can send the children through ICSW," she told The Times of India adding that even Precious Moments had the `Fit Persons Insitute' licence given by the Women and Child Welfare Department.

By Shridhar Dixit

BANGALORE: Gulbarga police are investigating if noted south Indian film actress Amala Akkineni is involved in the child adoption racket in Andhra Pradesh.

Gulbarga Superintendent of Police Alok Kumar told www.timesofindia.com on Thursday that a police team, led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, would leave for Hyderabad on Monday to interrogate the actress, who is the president of Hyderabad-based St Theresa Tender Loving Centre which has a branch in Gulbarga.

Amala who is married to Telugu actor Nagarjuna has been involving herself in animal welfare activities.

Police have secured incriminating documents which establish that the Theresa Centre is involved in the adoption racket, Alok Kumar said and added that a case had been registered against Sister Theresa, chief coordinator of the centre.

He said a total of 308 adoptions had taken place at various child care homes in Andhra Pradesh since 1995. Out of these, 197 children were given in adoption abroad -- to people from countries like Australia, Germany and Canada. All the adopted children were girls, he said.

Alok Kumar said two persons, Christopher and Peter Subbiah, who were allegedly acting as conduits between child care homes and poor residents of Lambani thandas on the Karnataka-Andhra border had been taken into custody. They had helped secure two babies from Chengi Bai of Sena Naik Thanda near Gulbarga. Their interrogation had thrown light on the involvement of the St Theresa Centre.

Alok Kumar said the child care institutions had not kept proper records of where they got the babies from, nor photographs of the biological parents. The relinquishing certificates from parents bore fake names. Some papers showed Ruplal Thanda as the place from which a baby was procured. However, when police looked for the Thanda, it was found to be non-existent.

St Theresa Centre too was apparently forging the documents on child procurements. A separate case of forgery has been registered against the Chief Coordinator.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarju Kharge said that a special COD team would be constituted and a thorough investigation conducted into the racket.

It is not clear whether the Gulbarga police will cordinate with the special teams of Karnataka and Andhra or hold a parallel investigation. (Web Exclusive)

HYDERABAD: Authorities rescued 54 children from an orphanage run by the wife of a senior IPS officer on Thursday, giving a new twist to the child trafficking probe.

The orphanage called 'Precious Moments' situated on the city outskirts is managed by Anita Sen, wife of additional director general of police (recruitment) Swaranjit Sen, official sources said.

A team of officials from the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) inspected the premises twice since Wednesday and seized all records. The authorities then moved in swiftly and shifted 54 children to Shishu Vihar, a state-run child care centre here, taking the total number of children rescued since last week's crackdown to 160.

This is the third adoption centre to be raided by officials of the state Women Development and Child Welfare Department to unearth what has now turned out to be a well-oiled child trafficking racket.

A preliminary examination of records revealed that 'Precious Moments' was resorting to 'illegal adoptions' though it had a licence only to take care of 'neglected, abandoned and street children till their rehabilitation', sources in the state Women and Child Welfare Department said here.

"Prima facie, we have found that this unlicensed centre was resorting to irregularities. The records are not in order," the collector of Ranga Reddy district, Ajay Jain, said. (PTI)